Helen Fielding, Yorkshire-born creator of the era-defining comic character Bridget Jones, is behind a new prize to find distinctive new comedy writing from the North of England.
The winner and one highly commended entrant will be selected on the strength of the funniest 1,000-word piece of first-person stand-alone prose. This is a nod to the mid-90s diary entries of Fielding’s fictional heroine Bridget Jones, first published anonymously in The Independent newspaper.
The prize will be awarded to an unpublished and un-agented writer based in the North of England as part of New Writing North’s longstanding Northern Writers’ Awards.
Helen Fielding said: “Bridget Jones’ comedy heart came from the everyday humour of people around me when growing up in Yorkshire: laughing together at our mess-ups; bringing the fancy and pretentious down to earth. There are lots of famous Northern comics. But this prize is for the comic voices of people who aren’t famous: just living their lives being quietly hilarious.
I always tried to make the Bridget columns exactly 1,000 words long – like making the petrol pump stop at exactly twenty quid. So, this is for the funniest standalone, first-person 1,000 words. If it’s slightly under you won’t be punished. Just DON’T MAKE IT ANY LONGER!”
The winner will receive a writing support session with literary agents Aitken Alexander Associates (Fielding’s representatives) and a bespoke package of writer support from the team at New Writing North. In addition, the winner will receive a prize of £2,000 and the runner-up £1,000.
The Bridget Jones’ Diary column’s debut in The Independent in 1994 led to Fielding’s four globally bestselling Bridget Jones novels and four hit movies – co-written and co-exec produced by Fielding – all starring Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, and Colin Firth. In 2016 Bridget Jones was named on the Woman’s Hour Power List as one of seven women judged to have had the biggest impact on women’s lives over the past 70 years, despite not actually being a real person.
Fielding hopes to honour the Northern comic tone which inspired her own writing, from comedy legends including Morecambe and Wise, Victoria Wood, Les Dawson, Thora Hird and Alan Bennett.
The Bridget Jones Prize will run each year for three years (in 2027, 2028 and 2029) and be managed by New Writing North as part of the Northern Writers’ Awards.
Will Mackie, Senior Programme Manager (Talent Development), New Writing North, said: “This is the first time the Northern Writers’ Awards have featured an award exclusively for comedy writing. There is no one more fitting to identify an original comedy voice than Helen, who created one of the nation’s most beloved comic characters of the last 30 years. We are massively grateful for her support.”
The prize is free to enter and will open for submissions from 23 November 2026 to 1 February 2027. The winner will be announced at the Northern Writers’ Awards ceremony in Newcastle in summer 2027 and the award presented by Helen Fielding.
Eligibility and submission details for the Bridget Jones Prize can be found here.
Find out more about the Northern Writers’ Awards here.
